Sand-drying plant



H. W. NAGELI SAND DRYING PLANT.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, 1919.

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H. VV. NAGEL.

SAND DRYING PLANT.

APPLICATION F|LED APR.23,1919.

Patented July E39 19m..

OF ONE-HALF T0 AUGUST C.

SAND-DRYINC-r PLANT.

antenas.

Specication of Letters Eatent.

11atented July 13, 1929.

Application filed April 23, 1919. Serial No. 292,107.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY W. NAGEL, a citizen of Germany, residing atChicago, in the county of Cook, State of lllinois, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Sand-Drying Plants, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention relates to sand plants of the kind commonlyemployed by railroads to dry the sand used in its locomotives for tracksanding purposes.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide a plant which willnot require as high a structure as heretofore, which will be moreefficient in drying the sand than prior art plants, and which will bevmore economical in the cost of initial installation and subsequentmaintenance. With these objects in view, the invention includes not onlya novel arrangement of the parts but also certain improvements in thesand heating and drying elements and in the means for delivering thedried sand to the storage bin or other delivery point.

The various features and advantages of my invention will be more fullyunderstood upon a consideration of the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing while the scope of theinvention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

ln said drawing Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a sand plantconstructed in ac' cordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a Viewof that portion of the mechanism which controls the delivery of sandfrom the dry sand hopper; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the sanddrying elements. Throughout these views like characters refer to likeparts. Referring to the drawing in detail, A des= ignates the sand bin,B the gate for controlling the discharge of sand from the bin, theheating elements to which the sand 1s delivered from the bin, D thescreen by which the refuse is removed from the dried sand, E a chute andF a hopper for receiving the sifted dried sand, Cr a compressed air pipethrough which dried sand is delivered from the hopper F, H a valvemechanism for controlling the discharge from the hopper F, and l astorage bin for the dry sand.

The sand bin A may be of any preferred construction. ln the presentinstance it is shown as forming part of a building having l the wallsresting upon a suitable foundation and having the floor- 12. Suchstructures are commonly built of reinforced concrete. At the bottom ofthe bin A is a spout 13 which may be composed of cast iron or othersuitable material. It is secured to the concrete structure in anydesired way. The outlet of this spout 13 is opened and closed by thegate B which is pivoted to the spout and controlled in its operation bycords la and 15 attached to the ends of the cross arm 16 upon the gatepivot. In the present instance these cords pass over pulleys indicatedat 16 and end in rings 17 within the reach of an attendant who may pullthe cords to open and close the gate B. A notched an le iron 18 on wall10 serves as a means or holding the taut cord in position.

Directly beneath the spout 13 and gate B is a sand receiving space orhopper 19 which 1s formed inpart by the heating elements C and in partby surrounding walls 20. ln this instance these walls extend downwardfrom a iioor 21.

I'llhe heating elements C are, in the present instance, five in number,designated 23, 24:, 25, 26 and 27. Each of these elements is arelatively fla-t, hollow member which is tapped at one point for theadmission of steam from the supply pipe 28 and is tapped at anotherpoint for the discharge of steam into the discharge pipe 29. A valve 30controls the steam supply. rlhe various heating elements may be built upof structural steel or they may consist of cast iron if so desired. Thearrangement of the heating elements is such that element 24C extendshorizontally slightly beyond element 23, element 25 in like mannerextends beyond element 24:, element 26 extends in like manner beyondelement 25, and then element 27 eX- tends considerably beyond element 26in an upwardly inclined direction. With this arrangement the element 27forms one inclined wall of the hopper 19 and the ends of the elements23, 24, 25 and 2G form another inclined wall of the same hopper. rlihelatter wall, however, is provided with openings due to the spacesbetween the different elements. From this it will be seen that when thesand is delivered from the bin A into the space 19 it will work throughthe openings between the heating elements on to the surfaces of thoseelements. lt will be noted that the is inclined at a suicient angle tobring about other words, the sand when wet requires ai steeperinclination for a given speed than when dry., Where it is Wettest theinclina- -tion is steepest. This arrangement also provides for a fairlyuniform rate of travel of the sand over the heating elements.

As the sand is delivered from the heating elements it drops on to thescreen D whlch a proper screening of the dried sand. Side boards 31 oneither side of the screen serve to guide the refuse into a passage 32and finally into the inclined discharge spout 33 by which it may bedelivered at some convenient point for removal. The dry sand whichpasses through the screen D enters the chute E and is carried by it intothe dry sand hopper F. The chute E is provided with side walls 34 andthus confines the sand so that all is delivered to the hopper. A floor35 is located at a point where access can be had to the heatingrelementsand the upper end of the screen. his floor may also serve in somemeasure to support these parts.

The dry sand hopper F has an inclined oor 36 which is steep enough t'odeliver the sand to the lowermost point of the hopper. The compressedair pipe G passes down through the hopper and out through an opening inits lowermost point, as clearly illustrated. This pipe G is connectedwith any suitable source of compressed air and the supply of air passingthrough the pipe is controlled by valve 37. In the present instance thedelivery end of the pipe is located in the storage bin I. As shown moreclearly in Fig. 2, the pipe G is provided at the lowermost point of thehopper F with a number of vertical slots 38. The sand in hopper F isfree to pass through these slots into the interior of the pipe G and thearrangement serves as an ejector for carrying the sand up through thepipe G into the bin I. The extent to which the slots 38 are` exposed tothe sand in the hopper is varied by a loosely fitting sleeve 39positioned about a portion of the pipe G and secured at its upper end toa yoke 40. This sleeve 39 serves as a valve to open and close the slots38 and to vary the extent of the opening as may be found most desirablein any particular case. For the urpose of moving the sleeve 39, the yoke40 1s provided with a threaded opening into which the threaded end of ascrew 41 passes. This screw also passes through an opening in pedestal42 and by means of collars 43 and a hand wheel 44, the screw may berotated without moving relative to the pedestal. This rotation, however,moves the yoke 40 and the sleeve 39 up or down according to thedirection of rotation. The pedestal 42 rests upon a suitable support 45which, in the present instance, is made of two channels as moreparticularly shown in Fig. 1. These channels are suitably sup- .,portedin the adjacent walls of the building or in any other suitable way.

When the plant is in operation it will be obvious that a great deal ofmoisture will be driven from the sand by the heating elements C.Suitable openings 46 in walls 10 are provided as outlets for themoisture thus driven olii These Ventilating openings might, of course,be dierently located if desired.

As before noted, the inclined surfaces of the heating and dryingelements C provide for a fairly uniform rate of flow of the sand whileit is being dried. In some instances the characteristics of the sand maybe such that it would be desirable to increase the rate of flow. Inother instances it might be desirable to decrease that rate. AccordinglyI preferably mount the heating elements C upon an adjustable frame madeup. of end members 47, 48, base members 49, and top members 50. Thesemembers are all secured together to form a crate-like inclosing framefor the heating elements. This frame is pivoted at 51 to beams of thelicor -35 and rendered adjustable byscrews 52. By manipulating thescrews 52, the frame and heating elements may be readily adjusted toincrease or decrease the angle of declivity of the surfaces over whichthe sand passes. Each screw 52 is rotatable with reference to the framebut is held from longitudinal movement relative thereto by collars 53.These screws are threaded through threaded openings in member 54 carriedby the iioor 35 and thus provide means for adjusting the position of theentire structure. In order to maintain a proper connection between thefixed and movable sections of the steam pipes 28 and 29 for thedifferent positions of the frame and heating elements, the rigid pipesections of each pipe are joined together by flexible sections, asindicated at 55.

In operation the sand passes from the bin A over the heating elements Cdown through the screen D leaving the refuse to be delivered by thespout or trough 33. The dried sand, accumulating in the hopper F,gradually passes through the openings -38 into the pipe Gand thence upinto the storage bin I. The amount of sand delivered from the bin A isregulated by the gate B. The amount .of sand admitted to the pipe G isregulated by the sleeve valve 89. The amount of steam is regulated bythe valve 30 and the amount of compressed air by the valve 37. And therate of travel is regulated by the adjusting screws 52.

It will be understood that certain changes and alterations may be Inadein the structure herein disclosed without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is:

l. A sand plant comprising a sand bin having an opening through whichthe sand is adapted to flow by gravity, a gate for controlling saidopening, spaced heating elements between and over which the'sand isadapted to pass after leaving said bin, each of said elements havingportions having diiferent inclinations, said inclinations being steepestWhere the sand first flows and is Wettest, and less steep at the pointsto which it passes after being partially dried, an lnclined screen forshifting the sandV as it leaves said heating elements, and a chute andhopper for receiving the shifted sand.

2. In a sand plant, a sand heating element having an inclined sandengaging surface over which the sand travels by gravity, said surfacehaving portions of different inclinatlons relative to the horizontal,the steeper portion being toward the receiving end and the less steepportion being toward the delivering end, said element being holloW andhaving connections for receiving steam into its interior as the heatingmedium.

3. In a sand plant, a series of spaced sand heating elements havinginclined surfaces over which the sand travels by gravity, the sandreceiving end of each element, except the uppermost, extendinghorizontally slightly beyond the one just above it and the receiving endof the loWermost extending in an upwardly inclined directionconsiderably beyond the element just above it, thereby providing a sandreceiving hopper having openings in one side through which the sandpasses to the heating surfaces.

4. In a sand plant, a series of spaced sand heating elements havinginclined surfaces over Which the sand travels by gravity, theinclination of each of said surfaces being steeper toward its receivingend than to- Ward its delivery end, the receiving end of each of saidelements, except the uppermost, extending horizontally slightly beyondthe one next above it and the receiving end of the loWerInost elementextending considerably beyond the element just above it in an upwardlyinclined direction, thereby providing a sand receiving hopper havingopenings on one side through Which 4the sand passes to the heatingsurfaces.

5. In a sand plant, a series of spaced sand heating elements havinginclined surfaces over which the sand travels by gravity, a movableframe for supporting said ele ments, and-means for adjusting said frameto change the inclination of said surfaces.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 18th day ofApril, 1919.

HENRY W. NAGEL.

